One Morning
by Juliet'sReplacement
Summary: One morning, after falling asleep down in the bar waiting for Cloud, Tifa wakes up to a very unexpected surprise- enough to send her falling right into Cloud. But on the upside, there's a new family member! Oneshot.


Tifa gingerly lay her head down on her arms on the bar, doing her best to keep her eyes open. It was late, as in _late_ late. The bar had closed some time ago, and Cloud still wasn't back yet. He should have been back by now, and this partially worried her. She snorted. She always worried about the blonde warrior, even though she really shouldn't, not to mention didn't need to. If anything, he would always be worried about her, worried she couldn't defend herself properly, worried she'd get herself into trouble. The thought made Tifa smile.

Sighing, she glanced at the clock, and groaned. It was already well past one. Where was Cloud? He should be back by now... and Tifa always waited up for him. He always came back. If she fell asleep before he got back, she woke up the next morning in her bed, whether she remembered going up or not. And it never made any sense to her, but she never mentioned it. Tifa sighed again, resting her chin in one hand as she pondered when Cloud would be back. After another fifteen minutes or so, her head sank down to rest on her arms again on the bar.

Naturally, her wine-colored eyes slowly slid shut mere seconds after this, despite her half-hearted attempts to keep them open. As a result, when Cloud did walk in, silent as the grave, Tifa was well and truly out.

The faintest ghost of a smile reached the blonde warrior's lips, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Wordlessly, he walked over to the bar, just looking down at the sleeping woman. He shook his head slightly, and spiky blonde hair waved in front of his pure cerulean eyes. Gently, Cloud picked her up, putting one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. Tifa sighed quietly, her head turning into Cloud's navy shirt, her fingers tangling loosely in the fabric. He looked down at her with a perplexed expression for an instant, then it smoothed over and Cloud merely carried her upstairs in this fashion. As he laid her down in her bed, he made a silent decision. Tomorrow, he would get Tifa a gift. But not just any gift. Oh, no. A very, very special one that would save him from having to carry her up every night because he came home late, a gift that would be a lot like him.

Tifa groggily opened her eyes. After a moment, it registered that she was in her bed, in her room. Of course. Groaning softly with the achiness of where she had fallen asleep (being downstairs at the bar), she rolled upright and swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing. Tifa blinked once or twice at the head rush, a result of standing up too quickly, then walked over to her door. There was a note attached to the handle.

_Tifa-_

_Come downstairs as soon as you  
>read this. I have a surprise for you.<br>I think you'll like it._

_-Cloud_

A small smile touched Tifa's face. Cloud rarely left notes, and even less about gifts. What was going on? Shaking her head lightly, Tifa quietly and quickly went downstairs- she didn't want to wake anyone still sleeping. However, she didn't exactly creep downstairs, either, she was excited about seeing Cloud, if nothing else.

But no sooner had she reached the bottom step and gotten a glimpse of a shaggy head of blonde hair than she was hit in the shins by something furry going forty miles an hour.

"What- I- ahh!" Tifa gave in to a startled squeak as she was thrown off-balance, toppling onto her rear end as a little doberman puppy started bounding up to her chest, licking and licking her face. Despite this, a smile grew on Tifa's face as she managed to get ahold of the little black-and-brown bundle of fuzz, holding it away enough to see it was the size of a house cat and that an uncommon, tiny smile was on Cloud's face as he stood by the corner of the bar, watching her.

"Cloud?" Tifa asked, smiling as she scrambled to her feet, which was a tad difficult considering the puppy still bounding around her ankles. "Is this... when did you... I just... you... never mind," Tifa finally managed, laughing from the puppy nipping and mouthing on her feet. Cloud's faint smile stayed there, and when the little doberman crashed into her calves, he knocked her into Cloud, who immediately had his arms out to support her.

Tifa laughed again at his perplexed expression, and put her hands on his forearms to propel herself back up onto her feet. "Sorry," she said apologetically, but the wide smile on her face remained so. When she didn't remove her hands, Cloud's lips twitched slightly more.

"Do you... like him?" he asked over the flurry of little paws thudding over the bar's floor. Tifa grinned at Cloud like a kid on Christmas morning, and suddenly realized how close he was. She blinked several times, but didn't move. Cloud evidently found no need to have his hands out to steady her when she wasn't going to fall, so he rested his hands- on her waist. It made a slight blush reach Tifa's cheeks, but she couldn't look anywhere else. His deep blue eyes had caught her, trapped her, and she couldn't look away. Unexpectedly, the blonde warrior offered a small smile, and Tifa returned it.

They remained standing there, out in the middle of the bar's floor, Tifa's hands on Cloud's forearms and Cloud's hands on Tifa's hips, a little blur of black and brown racing around them until someone came downstairs.

A perfect morning.


End file.
